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Venus Williams follows sister’s footsteps out of French Open

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Venus Williams has been ousted from the French Open, one day and one round after her sister Serena also made an extremely early exit from the event.

Williams lost to third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, 6-2, 6-3, in the second round Wednesday. The seven-time Grand Slam winner was playing in a major tournament for the first time since withdrawing before her second-round match at the U.S. Open last August.

She revealed at the time she had been diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome, which causes fatigue and joint pain.

It showed Wednesday, when Williams was dominated by Radwanska for most of the match, falling behind, 5-1, in the second set before mounting a small comeback. She pulled to 5-3 and was a point away from winning the next game when Radwanska sent the ball over her head to get to match point.

The match ended exactly an hour after it started on a forehand mistake by Williams.

“I felt like I played,” said Williams, who made 33 unforced errors to Radwanska’s six. “That pretty much sums it up.”

On Tuesday, Serena Williams lost to Virginie Razzano of France, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3, falling in the first round of a major tournament for the first time. It’s the first time in 43 major tournaments with both Williams sisters in the field that neither of them got to the third round.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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